Officials fight to keep Ford plant open / Wixom facility rumored to be shut down

Micheline Maynard, New York Times

Published
4:00 am PST, Friday, December 16, 2005

2005-12-16 04:00:00 PDT Wixom, Mich. -- A high-stakes game of poker is under way in the automobile industry, and Chuck Buchanan is one of the chips.

Ford's big luxury car plant here, where Buchanan has worked for 32 years, is rumored to be on a list of plants that Ford may close under its second restructuring plan in the past four years.

Michigan officials have vowed to fight to keep the Wixom plant open. But first they have to elbow their way to a table already crowded with officials from cities and states around the country making offers to Ford, General Motors, and parts suppliers like Visteon and Delphi, all of which plan to close factories in coming months and years.

But for state officials, the competition has become critical to keeping big investments. "In a perfect world, government wouldn't be in the job of offering incentives and partnerships," said Brian McClung, a spokesman for Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota. "But in the world we live in, we recognize that businesses are going to make their decisions based on the bottom line."

A report in the Detroit News last week said Ford may close as many as 10 assembly and parts plants, and also eliminate as many as 30,000 jobs, when it announces a restructuring plan on Jan. 23 that it is calling "Way Forward." Factories said to be on Ford's list for a possible shutdown include those in St. Paul; Hazelwood, Mo., outside St. Louis; and Hapeville, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta.

Ford's plant here is in trouble. Row upon row of brand-new Lincoln Town Car sedans, hundreds in all, sit with snow on their roofs, waiting to be shipped to buyers who are nowhere to be found. The factory now works only one shift a day.

Regardless, state officials say they are convinced that the plant can survive. "We're very hopeful on Wixom," said James Epolito, president of the Michigan Economic Development Commission. Michigan officials are trying to make a case that Ford should consolidate its production in the state and close factories elsewhere.

For their part, Minnesota officials are taking no chances of the St. Paul plant closing. The speaker of the Minnesota House has proposed turning the plant's location into a tax-free zone, while the governor is offering tax breaks and, more uniquely, suggesting that Ford draw on the state's environmental expertise to help it develop energy-efficient vehicles.